


A Night in the Old School

by Hours_Gone_By



Series: AU Yeah AUgust 2019 [13]
Category: The Transformers (Cartoon Generation One), Transformers Generation One, Transformers – All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe – Boarding School, Alternate Universe – High School, Boarding School, Creepy, Creepy Old Buildings, Friendship, Gen, High School, Orphans, School Detention, Siblings, Sneaking Out, Urban Legends, abandoned buildings, au yeah august, dares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-10
Updated: 2020-01-10
Packaged: 2021-04-22 17:55:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22199404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hours_Gone_By/pseuds/Hours_Gone_By
Summary: Hound, as the new guy at school, accepts a dare from one of his roommates to spend the night, alone, in an old, abandoned building. It's just for the sake of fitting in, he won't really experience anything.Right?
Relationships: Bluestreak & Prowl, Bluestreak & Sideswipe & Sunstreaker, Hound & Bluestreak, Sideswipe & Sunstreaker
Series: AU Yeah AUgust 2019 [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1441549
Comments: 7
Kudos: 24





	A Night in the Old School

**Author's Note:**

> AU Yeah August 2019 – Day 20: Boarding School

Hound looked around curiously as he walked into the dormitory room he was supposed to share with three other students during the school year. It was a decently large room with a storage bed and a desk tucked into each of the corners. A large window was over the two desks on the outside wall, and a set of shelves was opposite the door, against the wall, in the space between two footboards. A small round table, just barely big enough for the four chairs around it, took up too much space in the centre of the room. Three of the student areas were already occupied: one had art supplies and an assortment of polishes on the desk, another had lobbing and gladiatorial posters on the walls and the third contained a grey-and-red Praxian. The Praxian looked up when Hound came in and lack of recognition was immediately replaced with a beaming smile.

"Hi, there! You're Hound, right? The dorm supervisor said you were coming, but she didn't say which day." The Praxian lightly tossed their book aside and jumped up to come over and shake Hound's hand. "I'm Bluestreak. I guess you don't have much choice in beds, sorry, but we've been in this room for two meta-cycles, coming up on three, and we're kinda used to it now. I can switch if you really want to, but it doesn't make a whole lot of difference, they're all the same."

Hound smiled at the warm welcome. "Hi, there, Bluestreak. You got it right, I'm Hound. It's okay, I don't mind taking the available bed. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too. Um, sorry about the info-dump," Bluestreak said sheepishly, "I talk a lot, some people say it's too much."

"Well, I listen a lot," Hound replied, still smiling warmly at the gregarious mech, "so that should work out just fine." He started over to his bed, to put his few things away. "So, who are our other two roommates?"

"Oh, they're the twins, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker. They try to keep family units together here as much as they can. My sibling Prowl used to be our other roommate, but he's older, and he got moved into a private room for his final year." Bluestreak followed Hound while he talked but not too closely. "He'll probably still come by to visit."

"You must miss him," Hound commented. Sorting his possessions into drawers took less than a klik, and he sat down, testing the bed. Better than what he'd had before, anyway.

"Yeah." Bluestreak perched on the edge of his own desk. "It'll be harder when he goes to the Academy next year, but I guess this'll be a good transition period or something. That's what Prowl called it, anyway. So, can I ask…what's your story?"

"My creator is a forest ranger for a noble who's setting up a hunting preserve on Ayrton. My creator couldn't take me with him, and the state boarding school was the only one he could afford since there wasn't anyone else to take me in." Hound opened a drawer, fiddling with something inside just for something to do. "I wish he didn't have to go, but…"

"I'm sorry," Bluestreak said, sincerely.

"Thanks." Hound didn't want to talk about that, though. "So, I've never lived in a dorm or been to a boarding school before. Mind showing me around?"

"Of course not," Bluestreak said, hopping off the desk. "I remember what it was like to be the new mech. We can start with the kitchen: the cook sneaks us treats when she knows the teachers and the rest of the staff aren't looking."

"Sounds like a good start."

Hound followed Bluestreak, who talked the whole way down to the kitchens. The cook, a sharp-opticked green and white mech named Beta, gave them some aluminum crunches 'for now' and a handful of treats each, plus some for Sideswipe and Sunstreaker. Bluestreak hid them in his subspace, which Hound hadn't thought a school would let an underage student have access to.

"I'm not supposed to," Bluestreak confided, "but our creators – Prowl's and mine – gave us access early. I mean, it's supposed to be for carrying stuff like tasers for protection or extra energon if you're on a long trip or something. But I don't need a taser here, and I don't go on trips anymore, so I just use it for hiding stuff. It's not on any of my forms or anything, so please don't tell anyone?"

"Well, I don't see the harm in keeping it a secret," Hound replied. "It's not harmful. You're just using it to carry some energon treats around, right?"

"Right."

Bluestreak took him through the dorm, showing him the common areas like the dining hall and the rec room, plus a set of washracks that were a little distance away from their room. But Bluestreak said it wasn't used very often and had better cleanser pressure than the one closest to theirs.

"Wonder why it doesn't get used much then," Hound commented.

"Oh, it's probably because there's no one except us living at this end of the dorm. It's probably going to be closed down or repurposed before long. Vector Sigma's not giving out as many juvenile sparks as it used to, so…" Bluestreak shrugged. "Sideswipe tried to convince me this section's not used because it's haunted, but I don't believe him. Speaking of Sideswipe, he and Sunstreaker are probably back from detention now. Want to go meet them?"

"Sure!" Hound followed Bluestreak back to the room, curious about his other two roommates.

Bluestreak was right, and the twins were back. The yellow one, who Hound would soon learn was Sunstreaker, was sitting in his desk chair, polishing his arm. He looked up and scowled when Hound and Bluestreak walked in.

"New guy, huh?" Sunstreaker said. "Don't frag around with my stuff and _don't _touch the finish."

The red one snorted. "Nice greeting, Sunshine."

"Don't call me sunshine!"

Red waved a dismissive hand. "Fine. Sun_streaker_, geez. Anyway, don't mind my sibling here, he's always grouchy after detention. I'm Sideswipe. Guessing Blue's already given you the tour."

"I'm Hound," Hound answered, not forgetting his manners even if Sunstreaker was a little off-putting. "Nice to meet both of you, and yes, he has."

"Hound, huh?" Sideswipe looked both mischevious and thoughtful. "Not much to work with. It might take me a bit to find a nickname for you, but I will. You stuck here till graduation too?"

"I don't think so," Hound said honestly. "Not unless my creator's contract gets extended or something. As far as I know, I'm just here for the stellar-cycle."

Sunstreaker looked up from his polishing, face clouded with something like anger but also…hurt? Disappointment?

"Still got family, huh? Why'd they stick you in here with the orphans?"

"Oh." Hound felt guilty, even though he couldn’t have known his roommates, any of them, were orphaned. "I'm sorry. I didn't know."

Sideswipe shrugged. "Well, Sunny and I aren't really orphans, I guess? Our requestors didn't want us after our spark split because they'd only wanted one kid and then we were in foster care for a bit before we got sent here."

"Better off without them," Sunstreaker muttered. He glared up at Hound. "Don't feel sorry for us. We're fine."

"My creators – mine and Prowl's – died in an accident," Bluestreak said softly. "That big pileup a couple stellar-cycles back? We don't have any relatives so we just kind of…stay here. Once Prowl's reached maturity, he's going to apply to be made my guardian, and if it goes through, I can go live with him."

"Yeah." Sideswipe was sitting on his bed, and he leaned back against the wall and locked his hands behind his head. "Gonna miss you, Blue."

"I'm not gone yet," Bluestreak protested. "Oh, and Beta sent you some treats."

Bluestreak subspaced the packets of treats and distributed them. Sunstreaker didn't seem terribly interested in the treats, though Sideswipe dug in right away, but his scowl disappeared when he looked up at Bluestreak.

"Thanks, Blue," Sunstreaker said, not sounding sulky or angry for the first time since Hound had met him.

Bluestreak didn't really acknowledge the change, though, just smiled and said, "you're welcome!"

"So, Hound, what do you do for fun?" Sideswipe wanted to know. He got a glint in his optic. "Do you race?"

Hound chuckled. "I’m not really built for racing," he said. "Rough terrain's more my speed."

"You should make the drive out to the Old School," Sideswipe said, obviously teasing the new guy. "It's haunted, you know."

Bluestreak laughed. "Sideswipe, you say everything's haunted! Have you ever even seen a ghost? Because Prowl says they're not real and you know Prowl's almost always right."

"What's the Old School?" Hound wanted to know. It seemed like they were going to be talking for a while, so he reached back and grabbed one of the chairs from the table.

"It's a ruin, about a hic from here, all overgrown with cable vines and crystals," Sideswipe said as Hound sat down. "There was an accident and a fire, but instead of cleaning up and rebuilding, they just built the new campus and left it to the wild."

Bluestreak took a seat, unopposed, on the foot of Sideswipe's bed. "He's going to dare you to spend the night," Bluestreak informed Hound. "He _always_ dares new people to spend the night."

"Not all of them," Sideswipe countered, grinning. "Just the ones I think have the cast-iron manifolds to handle it."

"Prowl said he didn't experience anything but an uncomfortable night's recharge," Bluestreak said. "I heard weird noises, but I didn't see anything. Even the noises probably wouldn't have been that weird if I hadn't been alone. I don't believe in ghosts either but the place is spooky and that always makes things seem stranger. Do you believe in ghosts, Hound?"

Hound shook his head. "No, but I think I'd like to see this ruin. I like wild places."

His creator had often taken Hound with him on his long patrols of their lord's lands, but of course, Hound wasn't going to get to do that again any time soon.

"Okay, then." Sideswipe gave him a smile that promised trouble. "How d'you feel about sneaking out?"

* * *

Hound followed Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, and Bluestreak through the lower levels of the dormitory, the ones students weren't technically supposed to be in. It was late at night, and the last check of students had been done, plus the next day was a weekend, so it wasn't like anyone was going to be looking for them for classes. He knew he shouldn't sneak out, but, well, he did want to make friends here and get along with his roommates, and besides, this sounded like an adventure!

Sideswipe led them through an empty quad that didn't seem like it saw much use even in daytime, to a door that looked securely locked. It wasn't. Sideswipe opened it easily, and they all slipped through into a hallway that sloped downward.

"These are the tunnels," Sideswipe whispered. "They'll get us over to the Old School, everything's all connected."

"Beta told me once there used to be a factory-temple here," Bluestreak said, also in a whisper, "and these tunnels are how they got empty structures and components from building to building."

"I heard it used to be a hospital, and these are how they transported the bodies," Sideswipe said, still keeping his voice low.

Sunstreaker smacked him across the back of the head. "Shut it, Sides, you're gonna scare Bluestreak."

"Hey, I've spent the night in the Old School," Bluestreak protested. "I don't scare that easily."

Sideswipe shoved his sibling, but paused and patted Bluestreak on the shoulder when he caught up. "Don't mind Sunny, Blue, he's just trying to look out for you."

"I have Prowl for that," Bluestreak reminded them. "One overprotective older sibling is enough, thanks."

Hound caught the expression that flickered across Sunstreaker's face at that: it wasn't the expression of someone who wanted to be thought of as an older sibling. But it was there and gone so quickly Hound was sure Sunstreaker knew he wasn't going to have more. Hound could sympathize: he'd had crushes he knew weren't going to go anywhere either.

The tunnels weren't well maintained, but they weren't too horrible. Hound was used to being outside, liked to hang out with the gardeners, and didn't particularly mind dirt. Sunstreaker grumbled and told Sideswipe he owed him a polishing. Finally, they emerged into the remains of a basement, the ruined ceiling open to the sky. Two of the moons were overhead and gave enough light to see, but not enough for the shadows not to be creepy. Hound got why mecha might say this place was haunted.

"Where do you want me to stay?" Hound asked. They were surely alone here, but Hound felt the need to speak quietly even so.

"I'll show him," Bluestreak volunteered. You can help Sunstreaker get the arachnoid webs off his shoulders."

"What?!"

Bluestreak laughed and tugged Hound to a ramp, heading up, while Sunstreaker tried to look at his own back.

"It's this way," Bluestreak said when they reached the top of the ramp, heading off to the right. "There's a spot – I wouldn't exactly call it 'cozy' but it's out of the weather, and you can see everything that's coming at you."

"Which is…?" Hound prompted with a smile.

"Nothing!" Bluestreak said, cheerfully, and laughed. "Well. Maybe some glitch-mice. You don't want those in your databanks!"

"I sure don't," Hound agreed, still smiling. "So, I just spend the whole night in there, huh? I hope it's not too chilly."

"Oh, right!" Bluestreak pulled something out of his subspace. "I brought a thermal blanket for you."

"Thanks, Bluestreak. Where'd you get that?"

"Beta," Bluestreak said, unconcerned that an adult might know what they were doing. "She won't tell where we are, though. She thinks a little harmless rule-breaking is good for mecha our age. Anyway, here we are!"

Bluestreak tucked his doors down and turned sideways to slip through a half-closed door. Hound didn't have doors to tuck, but he still had to turn sideways. Well, if anyone – or anything - did come to get him, he'd at least see them coming.

"It's not super comfortable or anything, but you'll be okay for a few joor," Bluestreak continued. "Use the crates over there, they're not as cold as the floor. Um, you will be okay, right?"

"Of course," Hound reassured him and shook out the blanket. It was big enough for a convoy-class: he'd be able to wrap it all the way around him. He laid it out on the crates for an extra buffer of warmth. "It'll be like camping."

"Really?" Bluestreak looked fascinated. "I've never been camping."

"I'll tell you all about it sometime," Hound promised.

"Great!" Bluestreak smiled at him, and for a moment, Hound thought he might offer to stay. "Well, I guess I have to leave you alone now. But, we're not really that far away, so you can call for us if you need anything."

"Thanks, Bluestreak. Well, goodnight."

"'Night, Hound."

Bluestreak disappeared back out the door, heading back down to the twins. Hound lay down, getting comfortable as best he could on top of the crates and wrapped the blanket over himself. It wasn't the same as snuggling down on a nice, comfy, portable recharge pad with a thermal tarp and his creator on the pad next to him in their portable shelter, but it would do.

Hound did try to sleep, but, well, he didn't think the place was _haunted,_ but it did make a lot of unsettling noises throughout the night. There must have been a den of turbofoxes nearby because he heard them a couple of times, probably defending their territory. Their calls didn't sound right for hunting. Hound supposed that if you didn't know what a turbofox sounded like, it might sound ghostlike – like someone keening or crying out in pain. The occasional skittering sound in the walls would be glitch-mice, probably. Hound wasn't worried. Glitch-mice, and even retro-rats, wouldn't come near a Cybertronian, especially since they had plenty of fuel themselves out here.

The whispering sounds would be the cable vines, he told himself. Sideswipe had said that the building was overgrown with those and crystals. If it was getting louder, well, maybe the wind was picking up. Hound usually had a pretty good nose for weather, and he hadn't thought it would get windy but he wasn't really familiar with this area, so it made sense he might have been wrong.

That sound like halting footsteps was just the floor, warped and damaged by time and fire, contracting as the night got colder. That was it, Hound told himself, and if it sounded like they paused outside the door, well, he and Bluestreak must have changed things just enough when they walked over them. It wasn't like there really was anyone or anything out there, certainly not someone standing, watching, through the narrow opening, especially not someone Hound couldn't see. Right?

Right?

Hound tried for what felt like joors to get some rest, eventually managing to drop off in spite of himself. He never heard the floorboards start to creak again.

When Bluestreak came to get him in the morning, Hound was already up and folding the thermal blanket to carry it back.

"Hi there, Hound!" Bluestreak said brightly. "How was it? Did you get any sleep? It can be really creepy in here, especially when you're alone.

"Good morning, Bluestreak," Hound said, smiling at the garrulous mech. "I did get some sleep, thanks. Your blanket was a big help," he added, handing it back.

"Yeah, I was really glad I had it when I was here."

"You didn't go without last night, I hope?"

"Oh, no," Bluestreak assured him. "There's a little room down there with a door that still shuts, and once all three of us are in there, we just keep it warm with body heat. Oh!" Bluestreak looked a little embarrassed. "Not like that! I'm just friends with the twins, and it's a small room."

"Did all three of you spend the night in there?" Hound asked casually, as Bluestreak sidled through the doorway again. "No…walking around or anything?"

"No, no walking," Bluestreak assured him and gave him a knowing look. "No watching, either."

Hound felt a chill as he slipped through the doorway himself. "So…?"

"Yeah. And I was with them when Prowl stayed here, and Prowl was with them when I did, and Prowl wouldn't have let anyone try to scare me," Bluestreak told him. "I'm sorry if you're mad I didn't tell you about that but I thought if you knew, then you'd definitely get scared and I didn't want you to have a bad night."

"I'm not mad," Hound assured him. He wasn't, and besides, Bluestreak was right. He'd have had a worse night if he'd known. "Still, we both felt the same thing. That’s…wow."

"Yeah. Creepy, right?" Bluestreak looked up and down the hallway, only slightly less unnerving in the early morning light.

Something shifted, down deep in the dark hallway, and both Bluestreak and Hound froze for a moment.

"Okay, _really_ creepy," Bluestreak said. "Um, c'mon, we have to get back to the dorm before anyone sees us."

"Yeah. Let's go."

"You made it!" Sideswipe cheered when Hound and Bluestreak rejoined the twins.

"Sure did," Hound replied.

"Didn't feel anything…odd?" Sideswipe asked.

"You mean, did I feel like I was being watched?" Hound asked. "Yeah, but…I made it, that's what's important, right?"

"Yup!" Sideswipe clapped him on the shoulder. "Let's go!"

"Yeah," Sunstreaker added. "The dust in this place is bad for my finish."

Hound followed his roommates as they retraced the route they'd taken last night. Hadeen was just beginning to rise as they emerged from the tunnels into the quad, but some of the doorways were still in deep shadow. One of them, as Hound got closer, held a shape like a winged mech who was standing very still and Hound slowed, remembering the feeling of something watching and waiting last night. He couldn't help feeling that maybe, just maybe, they had been followed by the watcher from last night.

"Ah, slag," Sideswipe muttered, bringing them to a halt.

"Uh oh," Bluestreak mumbled and tried to hide behind Sunstreaker.

"Bluestreak?" the shape asked, resolving itself into a mech with widespread doors as they stepped forward. Hound looked between them and saw the resemblance, and knew that the mech must be Bluestreak's sibling.

"Oh, um, hi, Prowl," Bluestreak said sheepishly, confirming Hound's guess. "We were just, um…out early?"

"Mhm. Because you were out late, I'd say," Prowl observed drily. "No, Sideswipe, I know your routine with new students. I've done it myself, remember?"

"Yeah," Sideswipe sighed, and muttered, "back when you weren't so boring and strict about everything."

"So, you're not going to report us or anything?" Bluestreak said, hopefully.

"He'd be a hypocrite if he did," Sunstreaker said crossly, arms folded across his chest. "He's been out here with us before. Not to mention he's stayed the night in the Old School too."

"I wasn't a prefect then, and I was younger and seeking to fit in," Prowl pointed out. "Now, I have responsibilities and feel quite secure enough in myself, thank you." Bluestreak looked beseechingly at his sibling, with surprisingly wide cyber-puppy optics. Prowl sighed. "I suppose I can let you off with a warning this time."

The cyber-puppy optics cleared up with incredible speed, and Bluestreak beamed. "Thanks, Prowl! You're the best!"

"Yeah, Prowl," Sideswipe added. "You're definitely my favourite out of Bluestreak's siblings."

"Nn." Prowl pinched the bridge of his nose. "Please, just get back to your room before someone else sees you?" He dropped his hand, and sharp, icy blue optics pinned Hound. "You must be the new roommate. I suggest you refuse any more of Sideswipe's dares. They won't always end this well."

"Well, I – " Prowl raised an optic ridge, and Hound stopped talking immediately. Yeah. This guy was going to be one effective Enforcer once he got on the force. "Yes, sir."

"Don't 'sir' him," Sunstreaker muttered. "He's not in charge of anything."

"Yet," Prowl said pointedly. "Go back to your room and _try_ to stay out of trouble, please?"

"You know me!" Sideswipe called cheerily as they started back to the room.

Hound swore he heard Prowl say, "yes, all too well," under his breath, but he couldn’t be entirely sure.

"So," Hound said, falling into step with Bluestreak while the twins forged ahead, "is it always like this around here?"

"Sometimes," Bluestreak said, and grinned. "But sometimes it's exciting!"

Hound chuckled and, creepy night already fading into memory, headed back to the dorm with his new friends.

**Author's Note:**

> [Ayrton](https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Ayrton) is "a moon orbiting Aouda Fogg," which is the ninth planet in the [Hadeen System](https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Hadeen_System), where Cybertron is located, according to [The AllSpark Almanac II](https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Transformers_Animated:_The_AllSpark_Almanac_II).


End file.
